THE SKIPPER USES A NAUTICAL LASSO.
"What's that?" called George Duane, while Dory was still busy on the
forward deck.
This question was called forth by what sounded like a volley of cheers
from the New York side of the lake; but nothing could be seen to
indicate the source from which the noise came.
"There it is again," added John Brattle, as three distinct cheers came
over the waves. "There is some sort of a party up that little cove."
There was an inlet just to the south of the barges, from which it was
now evident that the sounds came. But parties from the surrounding
country frequently had frolics on the shores of the lake, and the
students concluded that the cheers came from one of these gatherings.
The Topovers continued on their course, and seemed to be laboring to
increase their speed, which was certainly moderate enough. They pulled
but six oars in each barge, and against the wind and the heavy sea they
could make but little progress. The Goldwing was making three miles to
their one, and the moment for action was near.
Though the Goldwing was close-hauled, she leaped over the waves like a
bird, and Matt was running directly for the barges, one of which was
following the other, the Winooski being ahead. The skipper finished
arranging the lines on the forward deck. Getting on his feet he made a
careful survey of the situation.
"Matt, can you go to windward of the barges?" he called to the helmsman.
"I might, possibly, but it would be a close squeeze," replied Matt.
"Then we must work more to windward: tack, if you please," added Dory;
and it was evident that he had prepared his plan of attack.
Matt came about and headed the Goldwing to the north. Dory kept his eye
on the barges, but he gave no hint of his method of operations. Probably
Matt thought he was entitled to be informed in regard to the plan, but
the accident in the river for which he was responsible had humbled him,
and he asked no questions.
When the schooner had made about a quarter of a mile of northing, the
skipper gave the order to tack again. Matt was directed to steer for a
certain point on the shore, which would carry the yacht a little
distance to windward of the barges, allowing for the headway they would
make before she could reach them. In that lively breeze even the width
of the lake at Beaver River was only a run of a few minutes for the
Goldwing, and she was very soon abreast of the Gildrock. The Winooski
was about a hundred fathoms ahead of her.
"Now, Matt, we have some sharp work to do, and every thing must be done
on the instant," said Dory, when the Goldwing had passed the Gildrock
and was up with the Winooski.
"Perhaps you had better take the helm, then?" suggested the coxswain of
the Gildrock.
"I can't, for I have a job to do here on the forward deck. We shall go
about, and run for the Gildrock in a moment," replied Dory. "I want you
to make for her stem just as though you meant to run her down."
"All right, Dory; I will obey orders to the letter," returned the
helmsman.
"I would rather you would obey them in spirit; so if I make a blunder,
and get knocked out, I want you to correct it," added Dory lightly.
"I don't know what you are going to do, and I can only obey orders to
the letter," said Matt.
"I could not settle on any plan until I had seen how the barges lay; and
it is too late to explain now. Ready about!"
Matt promptly obeyed the orders given him, and the schooner came
entirely around. It would have been a shorter way to jibe her, but the
skipper never ventured upon this manoeuvre when the wind was at all
fresh; for he was not one of those venturesome boatmen who think they
are not smart unless they incur needless risks.
Dory saw that Matt was carrying out his orders to the letter, and it was
clear that Nim Splugger, the acting coxswain of the Gildrock, was
getting nervous as he saw the Goldwing dashing down upon his craft.
"What are you about? You will run over us!" yelled Nim, when he saw the
schooner within twenty feet of him.
The oarsmen were inclined to desert their posts, and kept looking behind
them at the Goldwing. But both barges had been in the trough of the sea,
and those in charge of them had found by actual trial that the only way
they could go was directly across the lake, against the wind. This was
the reason why the barges were nearly over to the New York shore, and
not because they were following a plan of their own.
"Keep to your oars, fellers!" shouted Nim Splugger, when he saw several
of his crew cease rowing. "Never mind that boat! She won't run into us."
But Nim had his doubts on this point, for the Goldwing did not budge an
inch from her course. Dory had looked over his lines, and was watching
the course of the schooner and the position of the Gildrock. When the
schooner was within ten feet of the barge, Nim gave a frantic yell, and
all the rowers gave up in despair.
"Keep her away a little, Matt!" called Dory, who was now on his feet
with a line in each hand.
The Topovers in the Gildrock gave a desperate yell, satisfied that they
should be floundering in the angry waters the next instant. The Goldwing
fell off a trifle at this moment, in obedience to the helm. Dory had
fixed the line in his left hand on the spur of the light boathook, which
he extended as far as he could reach. As he did so, one of the covers
from the cook-stove, which he had secured to the bight between his
hands, dropped into the water.
Thus arranged, the line formed a snare in the shape of a triangle, the
stove-cover sinking the lower angle a couple of feet under water. As the
skipper held the snare, the Gildrock ran her bow directly into it. The
bight of the line was a slip-noose, and as the schooner drove ahead, it
tightened up.
As the Goldwing went ahead, Dory paid out the line rapidly, for a single
jerk would have upset the barge. The Topovers in the boat were so
terrified that they did not comprehend what Dory was about.
"Hard down your helm, Matt!" shouted Dory, with tremendous energy, when
half his line had run out, and the bow of the schooner was abreast of
the stern of the Gildrock.
Oscar Chester had been stationed at the mainsheet, and the instant Matt
put the helm down he hauled in the sheet with all his might. The effect
of these orders, as they were sharply executed, was to cause the
Goldwing to circle around the stern of the barge, and come up
close-hauled on her starboard side.
"Now we are all right! It's a success!" cried Dory, with all the
enthusiasm of a person who has won a great victory.
But even his own crew did not understand what he was about, and had not
the least idea of the working of his plan. All that had been done had
been accomplished in a few seconds, and the rapid working of the
schooner absorbed all their attention.
When the Goldwing came about under the stern of the barge, Dory rushed
aft with the end of his line in his hand, and made it fast to a cleat.
The rope had sunk in the water, and passed under the keel of the
Gildrock.
"Touch her up, Matt! Lively, if you please!" said Dory, as he secured
the line in his hand.
But the schooner had not yet got under full speed since she came about,
and when the mainsail shook she had lost about all her headway. But she
was not permitted to come to. Dory took the helm now, which Matt was
very willing to have him do.
"Go aft, every one of you!" shouted Dory to the Topovers in the barge.
"If you don't you will be overboard in a moment!"
The six oarsmen had been stationed in the middle of the boat, leaving
the vacant places forward and aft. Without waiting for orders from Nim
Splugger, the rowers all hurried aft as fast as the uneasy motion of the
craft would permit. This change in her burden caused the bow of the
Gildrock to be lifted out of the water, which was precisely what Dory
desired. Putting the helm of Goldwing up he allowed the yacht to gather
headway by slow degrees. He had lassoed the barge, but he was not
certain of the effect when he should attempt to tow her. The slip-noose
had come home so that the knot was nearly in line with the stem.
"I see now what you are about," said Matt, while Dory was experimenting
with the process of towing the barge. "But those fellows will cut the
line as soon as they get a little used to the movement of the boat and
understand what you are doing."
"If any one of them attempts to go forward, we can pitch him into the
lake as quick as we can shift the helm of the Goldwing," replied Dory
confidently.
"I see!" exclaimed Matt, laughing. "A pull sideways would heel the barge
over so that the water would go over her gunwale."
"The two four-oar boats are coming!" shouted Dick Short, "Mr. Jepson is
in one of them."
"Good! We may want some of those fellows before we get through with
this business," replied the skipper.
"But what are you going to do with your game now that you have snared
it, Dory?" asked Matt.
"I am going to put the Topovers ashore over here, and send the Gildrock
home at once," answered Dory. "I should have told you about my plan,
Matt, but I didn't believe in it myself until the last minute. I was
sure you would laugh at it; and if I did not succeed in carrying it out
I did not want you to have to bear any of the responsibility of its
failure."
"I think I should have laughed at it; and I can't help doing so now,"
added Matt, suiting the action to the words.
With the whole length of the line out, the Gildrock towed better than
Dory had expected she would. But the barge both pitched and rolled as it
was dragged at an angle over the waves, and the Topovers in her had to
hold on with both hands. With only half her usual crew, and these all in
the stern sheets, the tow-line did not force her bow under, and she kept
very nearly in her proper trim.
Finding that she went along very well, Dory headed the Goldwing for the
little cove from which the cheers had come. By this time the Winooski
had got into the smooth water, comparatively, under the lee of the
shore. If Commodore Tom Topover wanted to do anything to assist his
companions in the other boat, he was as fearful of coming about as he
had been in the middle of the lake. As soon as he was under the shelter
of the shore, he headed his craft to the south. But he might as well
have chased the lightning as the Goldwing.
As the schooner approached the mouth of the cove she was saluted by a
volley of noisy cheers. At the same time the bows of two boats came in
sight.
"The Chesterfields! We are in for it now!" shouted Ben Ludlow.